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Main Authors: Hashimoto, Ryuji, Izumi, Kiyoshi
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09863
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author Hashimoto, Ryuji
Izumi, Kiyoshi
author_facet Hashimoto, Ryuji
Izumi, Kiyoshi
contents We investigate the mechanisms behind the power-law distribution of stock returns using artificial market simulations. While traditional financial theory assumes Gaussian price fluctuations, empirical studies consistently show that the tails of return distributions follow a power law. Previous research has proposed hypotheses for this phenomenon -- some attributing it to investor behavior, others to institutional demand imbalances. However, these factors have rarely been modeled together to assess their individual and joint contributions. The complexity of real financial markets complicates the isolation of the contribution of a single component using existing data. To address this, we construct artificial markets and conduct controlled experiments using optimal transport (OT) as a quantitative similarity measure. Our proposed framework incrementally introduces behavioral components into the agent models, allowing us to compare each simulation output with empirical data via OT distances. The results highlight that informational effect of prices plays a dominant role in reproducing power-law behavior and that multiple components interact synergistically to amplify this effect.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_09863
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Towards Realistic and Interpretable Market Simulations: Factorizing Financial Power Law using Optimal Transport
Hashimoto, Ryuji
Izumi, Kiyoshi
Computational Finance
We investigate the mechanisms behind the power-law distribution of stock returns using artificial market simulations. While traditional financial theory assumes Gaussian price fluctuations, empirical studies consistently show that the tails of return distributions follow a power law. Previous research has proposed hypotheses for this phenomenon -- some attributing it to investor behavior, others to institutional demand imbalances. However, these factors have rarely been modeled together to assess their individual and joint contributions. The complexity of real financial markets complicates the isolation of the contribution of a single component using existing data. To address this, we construct artificial markets and conduct controlled experiments using optimal transport (OT) as a quantitative similarity measure. Our proposed framework incrementally introduces behavioral components into the agent models, allowing us to compare each simulation output with empirical data via OT distances. The results highlight that informational effect of prices plays a dominant role in reproducing power-law behavior and that multiple components interact synergistically to amplify this effect.
title Towards Realistic and Interpretable Market Simulations: Factorizing Financial Power Law using Optimal Transport
topic Computational Finance
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.09863